Philip Terzian
In fact, if you sail back in time to 1980-81, you would be hard pressed to find differences
between the ways in which the two new presidents were perceived. According to the wisdom of the
day, Reagan was a washed-up, grade B actor who had served as the mouthpiece for General
Electric and a group of malevolent California millionaires -- that was historian Garry Wills'
particular insight -- and had hypnotized the electorate into granting him their blessing.
Reagan was without experience in foreign affairs, possessed cowboy instincts that (as Jimmy
Carter often emphasized) were sure to lead to war, and clung to a dangerously outdated Cold War
concept of the Soviet Union. "You're in the big leagues now," House Speaker Tip O'Neill told
him.
To be sure, Tip O'Neill is now largely remembered as the onetime employer of cable TV
pundit Chris Matthews, while Reagan's historic reputation goes from strength to strength. And
George W. Bush? When a Boston TV reporter asked him last year to name the prime ministers of
four marginal republics -- and Bush tried to answer, with mixed success -- the image was fixed
in concrete: Bush was regarded as an overage frat boy with a sense of entitlement and few
qualifications for the office he was seeking. The fact that his Ivy League academic career was
significantly more distinguished than Al Gore's, or that he had served successfully as governor
of the nation's secon largest state, became irrelevant. And the circumstances by which he
scraped into office merely accentuated the theme: Bush was a president of dubious legitimacy,
destined to fall on his face within minutes.
It's a little early to offer an assessment of the Bush presidency, but it is sufficient to
say that, so far as the media is concerned, things are not quite working out according to plan.
In fairness, it should be acknowledged that the President has had assistance from his
predecessor: By merely standing in place, George W. Bush brings a lustre to the office so badly
tarnished these past eight years. It is striking how the loss of power has transformed Bill
Clinton's luck. Where once he slipped effortlessly in an out of accusations of perjury, rape,
obstruction of justice, sexual harassment and financial sleight-of-hand, his latest
transgressions -- so petty, really, by comparison -- seem to stick to him like tar. And
President Bush has been wise to decline comment on the spectacle. Every day seems to bring new
revelations of the Clintons' mendacity, and the fabled Clinton-haters are now largely
embarrassed Democrats.
But George W. Bush is more than just the anti-Clinton. His inaugural address was
refreshingly brief, eloquent, and to the point. He assembled a cabinet composed not only of
people of singular range and competence, but symbolic of a self-assured managerial style: He
does not seem to care who gets the credit, but whether the job gets done. He set in motion
those policies he promised to implement -- on taxes, education and defense -- and wasted little
time cleaning up minor messes. Despite a truncated period of transition, there has been no
gays-in-the-military debacle, no humiliating search for jobs based on sex, no secret decision
to socialize medicine, no Lani Guinier or $200 haircut on the runway.
Above all, Bush has demonstrated a deft political touch that has left Washington largely
speechless. While a lesser politician would have hunkered down in the White House, angry at he
spiteful post-election rhetoric, Bush's "charm offensive" has confused and flustered the
Democrats. His tax cut and education reforms have already gained enough support across the
aisle to qualify for bipartisan status. The Kennedy family could scarcely refuse his invitation
to watch the Kevin Costner clunker, Thirteen Days, in the White House. And
nobody expected Bush to show up at the Democratic legislative retreat in Pennsylvania, without
handlers or advisers, to talk and answer questions. Indeed, the remarks of one member (Rep.
Carolyn Maloney of New York) were so gratuitously offensive that members apologized to Bush the
following day.
All of this, needless to say, is still early: Success is measured in years, not weeks,
congressional Democrats will score points along the way, and the GOP majority in the Senate
hangs on the beat of one 98-year-old heart. Still, George W. Bush has proved to be smarter,
wiser and more talented than his opponents. And the style and philosophy that served him well
in Austin seems destined to translate successfully to
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
IT WAS, of course, only coincidence that Ronald Reagan's 90th birthday
was observed in the first few weeks of George W. Bush's presidency. But it was certainly
appropriate. For among the near-unanimous assessments that Reagan's presidency was the most
successful in the postwar era, it was often forgotten how Reagan was welcomed to Washington 20
years ago.
JWR contributor Philip Terzian is associate editor of The Providence Journal.
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